A speech by State Representative John Bel Edwards before the Baton Rouge Press Club on July 21, 2014. Edwards is a candidate in the 2015 gubernatorial election. He discusses: his career in the military and the Legislature; the need to govern from the middle; investments in K-12 and higher education; the need to focus on the state budget; tax exemptions; accepting federal funds; Medicaid expansion; the privatization of hospitals; Governor Bobby Jindal’s budget; immigration; the Common Core educational standards; and veterans’ affairs.